My little Short Stories 2- Paradise Edition

by Paradise Oasis

Sky Rocket's red glare

Sky Rocket's red glare

Holiday article by Paradise oaisis

BOOM! BOOM! B-B-BOOM BOOM BOOM!

It's once again the time of the midsummer festival here at Dream Castle, and every pony is in a joyus mood for the occasion. Foals are playing with sparklers, mares are packing picnics, and families are enjoying yummy meals out on the castle's lawn. This festival is to celebrate no only the warmpth of summer and it's beauty, by also is a day to remeber all of the great heroes and champions who fought in defense of Ponyland's ideals and freedoms... even if those heroes came from a time before Ponyland existed. Hot dogs and hamburgers are enjoyed by all, as the flag of Dream Valley waves proudly on the castle turret high above our heads. The day of the festival is an event truly to be experienced.

But as dusk comes on, and the afternoon sky gives way to a twinkling blanket of stars, it is the thundering boom of fireworks that fill the heavens above. Fiery explosions of green, blue, yellow and red. They are a wonderous sight to see... brilliant flowers that light of the night sky, brining a few moments of exictement and joy before they fizzle out and fade away. And it is the purple mare with the red, yellow, and pink mane standing here beside me on the castle ramparts, who makes this wonderful psectacle all possible.

"I just love making the ponies of Dream Valley's faces light up with my fireworks!" Sky Rocket beamed, looking up at her hoofwork in the evening sky over our heads. "I work so hard putting the right combinations of colors together to make it really razzle dazzle em'!"

And boy, does she know how to razzle dazzle them! This earth pony mare has more then earned that red firework cutie mark on her flank, having put on shows that draw thousands of visitors from even as far away as Maretonia. To her, each rocket is like a finely crafted work of art. She carefully places the powder and fuse in each mortar shell, plans out the positioning and timing of the rockets firing with the aid of our castle event planner, Glory, and then creates the most beautiful symphony of light in the sky iver the castle that any pony has ever seen. But this artwork is not something that she just knew how to do one day, as it took years of self teaching and practice.

"My parents thought I might have been a pyromaniac when I was little, the way I was fascinated by fires and explosions." The mare explained with a sigh. "The neighhhh-bors all thought I should be kept far, far away from matches- I actually think they were all slightly scared of my, I'm sad to say ."

Sky Rocket has been playing with gunpowder since an early age, scaring her mother when she nearly blew the wall out of thier apartment, making Dream Castle's western wall explode outward in a show of color and light. She continued to love to make things go boom as she was growing up, and nearly melted down her elementry school classroom showing off her 'explosive' science project.

"Who know a little fake volcano could make such a big kaboom?" She told me sheepishly. "That little doozy got me detention for a month!"

That's not to say she hasn't continued to make her share of mistakes, however. When she was nineteen, Miss Rocket blew her own eyes out with a prematurely ignited bottle rocket. She now has a set of glittering gemstones, in place of her once beautiful eyes. They serve as a very visual warning, to those ponies who would play with those dangerous explosives untrained. Such carelessness has forever marred her good looks, and left her with a constant reminder of the dangers of not respecting the power of something as dangerous as these colorful explosives.

"Ponies need to really really careful with fireworks." Sky Rocket warned, reflecting sadly on her mistake all those years ago. "It makes me sad when something so bight and colorful and loud is used to hurt an innocent pony."

As the fireworks conttinue to explode overhead, I can barely make out what the excited mare is saying. So I return my attntion to the show in the sky above. Shells exploded in the shapes of famous ponies- Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Princesses Celestia and Luna. Larger than life pony heroes who gave thier all, so that future generations of ponies could live and graze free. We remeber them and the heroism of the golden age- from the escape of Nightmare Moon, to the fires and destuction of the Grogar Wars- I can think of no more fitting tribute to thier glory than the explosions overhead.

Then, it comes. A great, fiery chain of explosions and noise filled the sky overhead, filling our ears with a cahcophany of lightning and thunder. Words cannot describe the looks of amazement and wonder in the eyes of the little fillies and colt watching the diplays with thier parents. Sky Rocket sees these expressions, and thier is no greater reward for the mare who put so much effort and care into her craft. Looking back towards me with tears of joy in her blurry eyes, she delivered one final message for me to pass on to all of you.

"Tell your readers that I hope they had a happy summer festival." The mare told me solemnly, "Tell them I hope they spend a lot of time with thier families, and eat a lot of good food, and remember what this day really means."

And that is my hope, as well... I hope you all have a wonderful day on this midsummer festival... and that you always remeber to never forget.